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Friday, November 18, 2011

My son started full time pre-k this past September. I told myself I would go back to work when he started school full time. I started (passively) looking for an opportunity in August and really kicked my search into full gear in October.

I have always used search firms/agencies in the past and was always successful. This time around was different. The job market has changed so much since the last time I worked. Recruiters are looking for candidates with specific talents. I must admit, my job search this go around was difficult and I started to get down on myself. I know I'm a good candidate, but I almost felt as if I was being discriminated against. It was as if just because I didn't have recent employment experience, I was not good enough for any positions they had. Very disheartening to say the least.

I would wake up every day and repost/refresh my resume on Monster and Careerbuilder. Those job boards are so saturated and don't really work, at least not for me. I think they're a great way for recruiters to fill their "pipeline" as they call it, but that's about it. I did get a few hits off of both of those sites, but most jobs were garbage for the most part. It was as if the person sourcing for the job didn't read my salary requirements or my educational background. One job I was contacted about paid less than what I earned in my first corporate position, before I even had a degree (now I have two degrees).

I started using the job feature on Linkedin.com. I would get on Linkedin.com every day and search the most recent positions posted. I would search all positions, not just opportunities in a specific category. I finally found an opportunity a few weeks ago and thought to myself, I can do that! I submitted my resume and cover note and was contacted the next day. We set up an interview for the following week. Fast forward a few weeks and I was offered the position. Yay! I'm so excited. I start the Monday after Thanksgiving.

For those of you who are unemployed, please look into Linkedin's job search feature. If you don't have a profile, set one up. It worked for me!

If you're like most people these days, you try to figure out ways to cut back or cut out bills altogether. Cutting back doesn't necessarily mean you have to sacrifice good service. I'd like to tell you a little about Straight Talk:

Straight Talk offers two No-Contract plans:

1) The “ALL YOU NEED” plan for $30 a month to receive 1000 minutes, 1000 text or multimedia messages, 30 MB of data transfer for data phones and 411 calls at no additional charge.

2) The unlimited plan for $45 a month to receive unlimited talk, text and data Nationwide anytime with calls to 411 at no additional charge.

• All the apps and games you need.

• A smart phone with a smart plan, and as always, no contract.

• The power of Android phones, at only $45/month for unlimited use.

• Imagine unlimited calls, text, picture messaging and web for a whole year, for only $499.00!

• 411 calls are included at no extra charge.

• Free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees

International Long Distance:

Straight Talk also offers an International Long Distance Service, which is a flexible prepaid calling service that enables you to make international calls from your home, cell or office phone at low rates.

Free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees. There are no contracts, no surprise bills and no credit checks. Great nationwide coverage and excellent reception/connectivity. Amazing smart phones; touch screen phones, and app capable phones with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth®. Reconditioned phones are available from $10.00 with camera, mp3 player, mobile web access, and blue-tooth capability. Great for young users! Finally, Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung.

I love how Straight Talk enables people to cut their cell phone bills in half. You have to be crazy to be on a contract these days when you can get everything you need without one. Imagine the amount of money you could save switching to Straight Talk. What would you buy with the extra money you save?

Straight Talk is a service provided by TracFone Wireless Inc., America’s largest no-contract cell phone provider in the U.S., with over 18.8 million subscribers. TracFone Wireless is a subsidiary of América Móvil S.A.B. de C.V. ("AMX") (BMV: AMX; NYSE: AMX; Nasdaq: AMOV; LATIBEX: XAMXL), the 5th largest cell phone company in the world with more than 236 million cell phone subscribers.

So what are you waiting for? Their phones have all the apps and games you need, a smart phone with a smart plan, and as always no contract! Ditch your carrier and your high monthly phone bill and check out Straight Talk today! You'll be happy you did!

I was making a smoothie earlier this morning and adding a banana as I normally do. I looked on the side of the banana and there was a sticker for Food Day. I had never heard of Food Day before. I decided to visit their site to learn more.

One question they ask on their site is, "why eat real"? We should all be eating real foods, instead of processed foods that have no nutritional value. Real foods consist of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. I think our world would be a much better place if people started incorporating real foods into their diets. Maybe a lot of drug companies would be put out of business because peoples lives and health would actually improve.

Food Day is this coming Monday, October 24th. What will you be eating?

Thursday, October 13, 2011

If you live in Houston you are most likely familiar with High Fashion Home. This business originally started out as a fabric store and the owners opened High Fashion Home just across the street.

High Fashion Home is located in the heart of Houston's midtown area, just south of downtown. They carry an amazing selection of modern/contemporary furniture, accessories, fabric, lighting and gifts. I visited Apartment Therapy earlier today and High Fashion Home has an ad on the sidebar. I drive by this place pretty frequently, but haven't visited for a few years.

When you go to their site, they have a "room ideas" link at the top of the page. They have some amazing things and great ideas. All of their items are new, but many things look like vintage reproductions.

They also have a room planner application on their site. If you live somewhere other than Houston, don't worry! They ship to the 48 contiguous United States!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Baby-G for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I'm someone who typically prides myself on current trends. Fashion-forward brand Baby-G has done it once again! This time partnering up with Ke$ha to create two watches that couldn’t tie in any better with her hit song “TiK ToK.”
Launched in September, the Baby-G and Ke$ha collaboration watch models display the head-turning style that make both Ke$ha and Baby-G unique to loyal fans. Ke$ha tackles two of her most signature themes in the design of her timepieces – animal print and All-American. Both watches are also adorned with Ke$ha's signature "Ke$ha" logo.
To date there are two Ke$ha watches that are currently available:

1) Red White & Blue watch: Inspired by the American flag because it's a recurring theme in Ke$ha’s aesthetic and also represents freedom of speech which is a right she passionately exercises in her life and music. Ke$ha created the patriotic BG5600KS-7 model, which features the colors and shapes of the American Flag's imagery with red, white and blue complete with stars.

2) Leopard Print: Ke$ha enjoys wearing leopard as it brings out the animal that is inside of her. Ke$ha hopes when people wear her watches they express themselves and never lose the animal inside of them. The BGA200KS-1E harkens to Ke$ha's wild side, as well as what is arguably the most identifiable theme in Ke$ha's music, imagery and style, by using an animal print. She designed this watch with a leopard print pattern on the watch's face and also its black resin strap.

The attention-grabbing watches also have the functionality that sets the Baby-G brand apart. The BGA200KS-1E is shock resistant and 100M water resistant and is equipped with an LED Light, world time from 48 cities and 29 time zones, a daily alarm, 1/100th second stopwatch, countdown timer, 12/24 hour formats and a mute function. The BG5600KS-7 features 100M water and shock resistance, EL backlight with afterglow, 48-city world time, four daily alarms and one snooze, countdown timer, 1/100 second stopwatch, mute function and 12/24 hour formats. Check out images on the watches here.

The watches are available at Tourneau, Nordstrom, select Macy's stores and fashion boutiques, with an MSRP of $120 for the BGA200KS-1E and $99 for the BG5600KS-7. Check out the collection on baby-g.com for more information.

I personally love the leopard print watch! I typically wear a lot of black and this watch would look great with jeans, t-shirts, flats, skirts, shorts-basically anything. I also love big watches. The bigger the better!
I encourage everyone to check out the watches themselves and enter the Baby-G sweepstakes! Please comment on this post and tell me which watch you love and why! For more information about the Baby-G sweepstakes please visit the contest rules page. You could win a Baby-G watch!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Dominic went on his first field trip this past Friday. His class went to Old MacDonald’s Farm. Since I'm not working right now, I volunteered to be a chaperone. Dominic got to ride to the field trip on a school bus, which he was very excited about. I drove my car and met his class at Old MacDonald’s Farm.

I arrived before the school bus and went inside the farm and waited near the duck pond. There was this really cool Emu living inside the pond with the ducks. I asked the people at the front desk about the Emu and they said someone gave them the Emu when he was really little and they didn't really want him or know what to do with him. They ended up taking him and putting him inside the duck pond. They said he's been there since.

I waited for about fifteen minutes and Dominic's class finally arrived. His teacher split the class up into small groups consisting of 4-5 students. My group had four students (Dominic included). The first thing they wanted to do was play at the playground. We played there for a few minutes and then walked around and looked at the animals.

The first animals we went to see were the Llama's. One of the little boys in our group walked right up to the caged area where the Llama's were and the Llama spit at his face. I wasn't aware that Llama's spit. I felt really bad, but he was fine and didn't cry, thank goodness!

The kids rode horses...

and saw cows, pigs and sheep!

They even got to ride a train around the farm!

After we rode the train, it was time for the kids to head back to the pavilion to eat lunch. I started passing out the picnic lunches Dominic's teacher brought for the kids. Not all of the groups were back to the pavilion yet, but I thought I would go ahead and feed the kids who were there to save time.

After lunch, the kids got to go to the pumpkin patch and choose a pumpkin to take home with them. If you live in Houston or the surrounding area and are looking for something fun to do with your kids, I highly recommend Old MacDonald’s Farm.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Express for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

From the Executive to the Professional and even the Creative Professional, Express has the suits that every man/woman needs!

I visited Express earlier today and took a look at their women's suits. My son started pre-k full time last month and I've been contemplating going back to work. I used to be a recruiter and was required to wear a suit and/or jacket daily. Express has some really great stylish suits!

I absolutely love the Studio Stretch Jacket and Editor Pant. It's available in fours colors including earth, charcoal, taupe and black. It's sophisticated style and shape is a wear-to-work must-have. It has stretch fabric that hugs your curves for a flattering fit. You can pair with the Editor Pant for a chic office look. This suit is perfect for work as well as going out after work. Some of the features of this suit are:

64% Polyester/31% Viscose/5% Spandex

One-button front closure

Long sleeves with 4-button detail at cuffs

Two flap pockets

Lined

Dry clean only

Imported

Since I'm considering going back to work, I think I'm going to go to Express and try on some of their suits. They are perfect for interviewing and will make you look as polished as can be!

For a limited time, enter Express sweepstakes everyday for a chance to win a $500 suiting makeover! Be sure to visit today! You never know, you may win!

Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me which suit/suits you love and why! What are you going to use your suit for? Work, networking events, job interviews? I want to know!

Richard Jo­seph Neutra (April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) is con­side­red to be one of modernism's most im­portant architects (Wikipedia). Here's more info about Neutra. Dion Neutra is Richard's son.

According to the comment I noticed, "the Kronish house is the last Richard Neutra-designed house in Beverly Hills and was set for demolition on October 10, 2011. After some months on the market, where the original listing characterized the property as a ‘tear down’ and no mention of the Neutra design, the owners had decided to tear the structure down and sell as an empty property of land".

For those of you interested in signing the petition to save the Kronish house, please click here.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I often take Dominic to the park after school. We ended up going to the park yesterday around 5:30. It's still really warm and sticky here in Houston, even though the first day of fall was last week. We ended up staying for awhile, but really dark clouds started rolling in and I thought it was going to rain so we left and went home. Turned out to be a false alarm. Never rained.

Monday, September 26, 2011

We moved a few months ago into a pretty cute lil' mid century modern community. It only has 14 units and our unit was completely updated right before we moved in. It's in the River Oaks area of Houston, which is a great place to be.

Our unit is the first one on the bottom to the left.

Entry way. Notice the mid century tile. Very cool.

Justin and Dominic being lazy on the sofa.

Dining room.

Totally rad vintage globe I bought for Dominic.

My mismatched mid century danish modern lounge chairs. One has the original ottoman.

My plain bedroom with vintage wall art.

Another vintage chair in our bedroom that I recovered. It's a mid century modern rocking chair and used to have arms. I recovered the chair and couldn't get the arms back on. I still like it though.

My cool bamboo divider.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our small casa. We downsized when we moved here, but I don't have as much to clean. Yay!

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